Republic of Ireland Under-17s boss Colin O'Brien said his vibrant side is "connecting the nation" after they made it to the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar.
The Boys in Green held their nerve in a thrilling penalty shootout to squeeze past Canada on Friday evening, sparking euphoric celebrations.
They will take on Switzerland on Tuesday, savouring every moment of their tournament adventure.
"Right now it's a lot of joy right here," said O'Brien. "I've no doubt the families of the players, the clubs, back home in Ireland, everyone watching the game, I'd say there's a lot of joy going into people's houses tonight and that's what the players are bringing, they're really connecting the nation.
"Tonight, every emotion, players, staff, supporters went through, but that's what knockout football is about and we've come out on the right side of it tonight and showed great nerve to get the outcome."
O'Brien had words of praise for goalkeeper Alex Noonan, wo made two saves in the shootout and two more excellent stops during the game itself, which ended 1-1.
"We back him," added the head coach. "We know Alex for a long time, I've seen him save penalties in training, I've seen him save penalties in his club and tonight he stepped up.
"We really knew he was going to pull off a save at least and he made two big ones for us.
"Since they've been with us, we always give them some individual time to practice and train in certain parts of their game.
"Penalties is something we let them do, it's not something they'll just be very jovial or be fluting around doing. They have to take it seriously, it's like you're practising your passing, your control, your heading.
"Their practice paid off because we've seen them every day taking penalties and I was fully confident with the hitters that were taking them that they'd score.
"We've done that and then you just need Alex to make a save or two. We're just over the moon, knockout football, that's what it is now."
A nation holds its breathe and - after a lengthy delay - they're there!
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Looking forward to the last-16 battle against the Swiss, O'Brien said: "At least we get the extra day of recovery on this side because we don't play until Tuesday. They need that bit of time just to enjoy the moment, that's really important.
"Rest and recovery will still be important but there's also that time where they nearly need a real down day tomorrow.
"But for staff, there is no real down day, we've got to prepare. It'll be an interesting game with Switzerland, there'll be two good teams going out on Tuesday.
"We played them in September, we played them in October, both teams know each other inside out. But as I said, this will be two really good teams at each other on Tuesday."
Goalkeeper Noonan, meanwhile, knew that he would have to provide heroics one way or another as sudden death went on.
"It's unbelievable when you think about it. It's a great feeling, especially to do it in front of your family and all your friends watching at home," he said, adding that he didn't mind being in the "limelight" on this occasion.
"I knew towards the end I was next up. After the one I saved at the end, I would've been next up to take one.
"You do get a bit nervous obviously because you want to do well. You're nervous about not doing well. Sometimes it helps being nervous, it might make you better, them little butterflies in your stomach, you can live off them."
Meanwhile, for midfielder Grady McDonnell, the match had special significance.
He was born in Canada before switching allegiances to Ireland.
With his father watching on from the stands, the player who represents Club Brugge's youth side, Club NXT, dug into childhood memories before stepping up to take his penalty in the shootout.
"Honestly, I go back to where me and my dad are training at the pitch," he said.
"I kind of swapped that image into my head and swapped the one of (me) in Qatar out, so lots of repetition and I knew where I was going to put it, kind of blocked out all the noise and executed."
While McDonnell knew many of Friday's opponents from his time within the Canadian system, his only thoughts were on what's next and that is Switzerland in the last 16 on Tuesday.
"Football's first for me so getting that result today was the first and only thing on my mind. I didn't really think about it too much, knowing people on the other team," he said.
"Definitely football first and then after the match I said hi but now our full focus was onto Switzerland, so looking forward to it."
Watch Hungary v Republic of Ireland in World Cup qualifying on Sunday from 1.00pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
